Paul’s Letters: Review

1. Paul’s Letters: Review • 1 Thessalonians 50-51 CE • 2 Thessalonians 50-51 (if authentic: pseudo-Pauline) • Philippians 54-55 CE -Ephesians 80-95 • Philemon 54-55 -1-2 Timothy, Titus 90-110 • Galatians 50-56 • 1 Corinthians 54 • 2 Corinthians 55-56 • Romans 56-57 • Colossians 57-61 (if authentic)

2. Romans Main themes: • Justification by Faith; • Clarifies the meaning of Israel; • Addresses tension between Jewish and gentile Christians

3. 1 Corinthians 54 CE • Corinth a large, urban center, ethnically, culturally, religiously diverse; • Is a response to another letter related to various problems (serious disorders) faced by different groups within Corinthian church. Main themes: • Call to unity and love; • Meaning of being called to a “New Life” in Christ.

4. 2 Corinthians • Is composed of various fragments of letters; • New troubles in Corinth: Paul’s leadership, authority challenged by offenders; 2 Cor a response to this. Theme: Call for full reconciliation with both Church as a whole and with Paul’s offenders

5. Galatians • Galatian churches founded by Paul but later Jewish-Christian leaders come urging members to get circumcised and adopt other Jewish law and rituals; • Paul sees this as threat to “truth of the gospel”. • Key themes: • Imposing marks of Jewish identity upon gentile converts; • The “new creation” in Christ.

6. Ephesians • Authorship in doubt: different style, phrasing and viewpoint from 7 other unquestionably Pauline Letters Themes: • Believers already share in Christ’s resurrection and are saved (not in other 7 Letters) • Church has become “cosmic” in function (beyond worldly concerns of church), with Christ at the cosmic head.

7. Philippians: Pseudo-Pauline? • Paul claims to be imprisoned; • Despite this, letter cheerful but with warnings. Themes: • Rejoicing in the spread of the gospel; • Disappointment in some missionaries who preaching from “uncharitable motives”.

8. Colossians: Pseudo-Pauline • Likely written by follower of Paul Themes: • Believers already share in Christ’s resurrection (Paul earlier claims believers have died in Christ but have not yet been resurrected); • Christ as Head of Church (His Body): Paul had never extended this metaphor in such a fashion • Reflects idea of Christ as “origin of creation”; • Controversy surrounding the “Christ in you”;

9. 1 Thessalonians: Oldest Book of NT • Thessalonica: large, prosperous regional capital; • Thessalonian church anxious for Paul’s return. He responds to this anxiety from Corinth. Themes: • Living as if Christ’s return is imminent and strengthen each other in their lives together; • Reveals problems Christians faced living in Greek society; • Severe language about Jewish persecution of Christians.

10. 2 Thessalonians: Pseudo-Pauline? • Very similar to 1 Thessalonians (a Pseudo-Paul used 1 Thes as model?) Themes: • Second Coming of Jesus as Imminent?; • 1 assumed return imminent; 2 seeks to refute, reminding believers of all the things that must first happen; • Strong apocalyptic expectations fueled by recent persecution.

11. Timothy: Pseudo-Pauline • Along with Titus, make up the Pastoral Letters of Paul; • Key concepts of faith, law, and righteousness treated differently from earlier Pauline letters. Themes: • New emphasis on ‘Godliness’, good teaching, church order, good works; • Assumes a problem with false teachers who appear to have Jewish, Gnostic, and ascetic elements; • Defends the theological and social fabric of the church (role of women in particular 2 Tim 3.6-7)

12. 2 Timothy: Pseudo-Pauline • Paul in prison facing imminent death, abandoned by all but a few close friends Themes: • Aspects of a ‘final testament’; • Dying patriarch blesses a faithful child, warning of problems to come; • Encourages Timothy (and thus all Christians) to endure in the face of suffering and difficulty.

13. Titus and Philemon Titus Theme: Duplicates much of 1 Timothy Philemon Theme: compassion and understanding: metaphor of our relationship with God the Father.